Epcot Forever – What Do We Know About the Nighttime Spectacular?

Epcot Forever. It has a special ring to it, doesn’t it? Disney World is gearing up for a variety of updates to the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (Epcot), and we just got a glimpse to one of the biggest changes coming to the park. If you know anything about us, we like two things, food of course, who doesn’t like food? And our Disney World nighttime spectaculars. Disney just revealed some more details around the new nighttime show, so let’s find a spot around the World Showcase and get ready for Epcot Forever!

Illuminations – Reflections of Earth

First Epcot Update Scheduled

Once Disney World opens Star Wars Galaxy Edge on August 29, 2019 the focus will then shift towards Epcot and the large updates coming to that park. From the redesign of the park’s entrance, to the new Play Pavilion, and new attractions Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratatouille, within the next 5 years we’ll have a new Epcot.

One of the biggest changes is coming to something near and dear to Nate’s heart: Illuminations Reflections of Earth. We’ve known for a while the 20-year-old show would be ending this fall, but we haven’t known the exact date until now – September 30th will mark the end of this firework spectacular. Without missing a step Epcot Forever will begin the next day.

Behind every great Disney World nighttime spectacular is a phenomenal soundtrack, and Epcot Forever will be no different. The music will take guests on journey through the years: past, present, and future. Rumor has it some of the songs we could expect to hear are the original themes to the historic attraction know as Horizons (has been replaced by Mission Space), and the original Journey into Imagination.

The part that caught our ear was the mention to the future. Could we get a glimpse at the music for the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction? Or is Disney World referring to the new music for Future World. We’ll only have a few months until we find out!

The Theatrics

Now that we’ve established our baseline, it’s on to the show. Epcot Forever will light up the sky, literally. From lasers to fireworks, the show will be pageantry in the sky painting the picture of memorable Epcot moments. As we mentioned in our previous article, the Epcot Forever nighttime spectacular will include special effect kites. Leveraging jet skis as their guides, the kites will bring all the action above World Showcase Lagoon.

Concept Art for Permanent Show

Catch It While You Can

Epcot Forever is a temporary show for the park. At the moment there is no scheduled end date, but we do know that the show will continue into 2020. Rumor has it the show is expected to run for about 8 to 10 months, while Disney World works on the permanent replacement for Illuminations.

We’re not surprised that all aspects in Epcot Forever will take place in the sky, as the permanent show will use water effects. At the moment when you walk around the World Showcase you can see the work being done on the lagoon for the show following Epcot Forever. Areas of the lagoon are being drained in order to install water fountains and water canons for the effects. In addition to the water effects, electrical is being run to the islands, which could be for projections that would be used in conjunction with the water effects.

Our Thoughts

We’re definitely looking forward to Epcot Forever. Music alone is enough to get us excited. Add in the special effects kites and you got us hook, line, and sinker. The show is about to start, we’ll meet you in France!